7.3 Hours a Day on Their Phones: Norway's Gen Z Finds Themselves Again Kneading Dough

An average of 7.3 hours online every day, with cat videos, war news, and climate crises all scrolling past on the same feed. This is the daily life of the 15-to-25 generation as mapped out by "UNG 2026," the latest youth awareness survey from Norwegian research firm Opinion. They haven't left the screen—but the screen has guided them into the kitchen.

Survey analyst Alexandra Palm points out the gap between ideals and reality: "What people say and what they actually do are two different things. The ambition is huge, but it's hard to achieve in real life." The numbers reveal where this anxiety comes from—71% worry about rising prices, 60% worry about their own future, 58% worry about war and social instability, and 57% worry about their personal finances.

Faced with external chaos, this generation is choosing to look inward for answers: Am I sleeping enough? Am I exercising? Am I eating right? They even repeatedly ask themselves, "Am I good enough as I am?" Analog, hands-on activities that start from scratch—like kneading dough—are gradually becoming a way to ease that anxiety.

Ironically, information itself is also a source of stress. 38% of young people feel stressed by the sheer volume of food information out there, and 27% admit they genuinely have no idea which diet is actually healthy. This is a generation that grew up in digital media and knows how to question its sources—yet still has to process more than its fair share of judgment calls every single day. As Palm puts it: "The previous generation could put down the newspaper or turn off the TV. This generation can't really do that—the algorithm won't let them go."

But it's this very same algorithm that's leading them back into the kitchen. Two-thirds of young people find new recipes through social media—49% see food-related posts on TikTok, 27% on Instagram, and 26% on YouTube. Social media has become an invitation, guiding people from the digital world in front of the screen into the hands-on, analog world.

The numbers back up this shift: the share of young people who make food from scratch, starting with dough, rose from 55% in the 2025 survey to 64%. Those consciously trying to cut back on ultra-processed food rose from 36% to 46%. In rankings of favorite leisure activities, "cooking" ranks near the top, with trying new recipes and ingredients becoming a source of genuine enjoyment.

An analysis of food-related posts on social media shows bread and desserts topping the list, followed by meat, chicken, and seafood—with farmed salmon and cod proving especially popular. Leading the charge as brand ambassadors are athletes and influencers like Erling Haaland, the footballer who brought Norway back to the World Cup after a 28-year absence. They appear on supermarket packaging and share videos of themselves cooking salmon and seafood on social platforms.

Camilla Sand, a consultant at ad agency TRY, observes that this generation doesn't trust polished, flawless advertising—they trust content made by real people and honest messages repeated over time. When athletes personally demonstrate the value of "eating" and "cooking," it makes home cooking feel that much more relatable and convincing.